Librarians and knowledge production

The role of libraries, the content of librarianship and the professional identity of librarians is changing. Based on our experiences as a library student (KF) and a library teacher and researcher (TH) at the main library school in Norway, we want to describe and to explain what is happening, so that the profession can be better prepared for future change. Librarians are now exposed to deep and challenges at the core of their profession. The internet revolution is transforming all institutions engaged in the production and dissemination of written documents and knowledge. We feel that the response from the library field has been too slow and hesitant. Since we share the same feeling of urgency, we have decided to prepare a joint paper on the future of librarianship. We want to identify the barriers to change and ways of overcoming them. The authors come to the library field from the outside and will draw on their previous professional experience in their analysis. To embrace our shared concerns, as well as our different perspectives, we will introduce the workshop through a brief exchange of views. After this introduction, lasting less than 20 minutes, the session will take the form of an open conversation, combining group and plenary discussions. We want to use our accumulated knowledge from other fields, theories, models, practical experiences - to help participants explore, analyze and propose strategies for the library sector in the new global knowledge economy.